# Proxyman now runs headless for AI agents > Source: > Published: 2026-11-13 00:00:00+00:00 # Proxyman now runs headless for AI agents 4 min read Proxyman is adding a **headless mode** 🤖 Your AI agent starts Proxyman with no window, no Dock icon and no dialogs. Then it captures and decrypts HTTPS, reads the traffic and creates debugging rules, all over [MCP](https://proxyman.com/docs/mcp). It works like mitmproxy, with every Proxyman tool. Headless mode is available in Proxyman 26.6.0 or later. Like the rest of Proxyman MCP, it needs a paid Proxyman license. Here is Claude Code using Proxyman headless. No Proxyman window opens: This blog covers: - Why a headless mode. - What changes when Proxyman runs headless. - A short tutorial: capture HTTPS with Claude Code, with no window. - What still needs you once. ## 1. Why a headless mode? With [Proxyman MCP](https://proxyman.com/docs/mcp), your agent can already read the traffic, find the failing request and create rules. But Proxyman needed its window: someone had to open the app and click through the certificate dialog first. Agents don't click dialogs. They run in a terminal, in the background, or on a CI machine. That's why many of them reach for a command-line proxy such as mitmproxy. Now Proxyman runs that way too. Your agent starts it, sets it up and stops it, and you never see a window. ## 2. What is headless mode? - **No window, Dock icon, menu bar icon or dialogs.** What would be an alert is printed on stdout. - **Your agent starts it.** The first MCP tool call starts Proxyman, and it quits when your agent is done. - **Certificate with no dialog.**`install_certificate` in`generate_only` mode creates the Proxyman CA without trusting it system-wide. Each client trusts the CA file itself: curl, Node.js, Python, Chrome and the iOS Simulator. - **The tools work as usual.** Breakpoint, Map Local, Map Remote, Scripting, Protobuf, session files, export to HAR. A paused Breakpoint is resolved by your agent, not in a window. - **Your system proxy stays as it is.** Only the clients you point at`127.0.0.1:9090` are captured. - **The window is one click away.** Open Proxyman.app, and you see the same traffic. ## 3. Tutorial: capture HTTPS with Claude Code ### Step 1: Add Proxyman MCP with `--headless` Run one command in your terminal. It's the usual Proxyman MCP command, with `--headless` at the end: ``` # Claude Code claude mcp add proxyman --transport stdio -- "/Applications/Proxyman.app/Contents/MacOS/mcp-server" --headless # Codex codex mcp add proxyman -- "/Applications/Proxyman.app/Contents/MacOS/mcp-server" --headless ``` For Cursor and other MCP clients, add `"args": ["--headless"]` to the Proxyman entry in your MCP settings. You don't need to open Proxyman or turn on `Settings` → `MCP`. ### Step 2: Ask your agent Start Proxyman headless, create its CA with no dialog, and decrypt httpbin.org. Then curl [https://httpbin.org/json](https://httpbin.org/json) through 127.0.0.1:9090 trusting that CA, and show me the decrypted flow with get_flow_detail. ### Step 3: Watch it work Claude Code calls 5 tools, and every one of them runs without a window or a dialog: 1. `open_proxyman` with`headless: true` starts Proxyman. It listens on`127.0.0.1:9090` . 2. `install_certificate` with`mode: generate_only` creates the CA and returns its file,`certificate_path` . 3. `enable_ssl_proxying` turns on HTTPS decryption for`httpbin.org` . 4. curl sends the request through the proxy and trusts the CA with `--cacert` . 5. `get_flows` and`get_flow_detail` read the decrypted request and response back. You can do the same by hand. The CA file is in Proxyman's app folder: ``` CA="$HOME/Library/Application Support/com.proxyman.NSProxy/app-data/proxyman-ca.pem" curl -x http://127.0.0.1:9090 --cacert "$CA" https://httpbin.org/json ``` For Node.js, use `NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS`. For Python, use `SSL_CERT_FILE`. For Chrome and Playwright, use `--ignore-certificate-errors-spki-list` with the `spki_sha256` value from `install_certificate`. The [Headless Mode docs](https://proxyman.com/docs/mcp/headless) have the command for each client. You can also run it without an agent, from a shell script or CI: `/Applications/Proxyman.app/Contents/MacOS/Proxyman --headless &`. Then use `proxyman-cli` to read or export the traffic. ## 4. What still needs you once Headless mode never shows a dialog, so a few things need you, one time: - **Safari, URLSession apps and Go** only accept a trusted certificate. Install it once with`install_certificate` in`automatic` mode; macOS asks for your password. - **Capturing every app** with`set_system_proxy` needs the Helper Tool, which asks for your password the first time. The Network Extension needs your approval once. - **A physical iPhone or Android device** needs the certificate installed on the device. ## 5. What's next? Headless mode is coming in Proxyman 26.6.0. We'd love to hear how your agent uses it: tell us on [GitHub](https://github.com/ProxymanApp/Proxyman/issues) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/proxyman_app) 🙏 Read more: